INDIA 2010: Ranthambhore NP

Nov 26-29 – The park is without doubt far greener than I have ever seen it and even the recent rains since my visit 2 weeks ago have raised all of the water levels. Consequently many of the prey mammals have dispersed.

Our six game drives following the successful tigress encounter the first morning never produced even the hint of another big cat. Pugmarks, yes, but nothing fresh. While mammal sightings were few and far between we did get to see a handful of Sambar (above) including some massive stags; family units of Spotted Deer and a couple of female Nilgai. Langur monkeys are numerous especially around the fort and human inhabitation.

There was a couple of sightings of a male Indian Gazelle (above), though it may have been the same individual wandering about. A single Wild Boar and solitary Ruddy Mongoose rounded out our light species tally.

Sadly during our time here Bob was felled by some mysterious illness. It was quieter without him but at least we did not have to repeat everything twice! There were excellent looks at some very colorful common birds such as Small Minivets; Plum-headed Parakeets (above) with their pale yellow tail tips; the ubiquitous Rufous Treepies; flocks of Yellow-footed Green Pigeons roosting in the tops of bare trees and the occasional Black-rumped Flameback. We continued to has good luck with our owl sightings regularly seeing Indian Collared Scops, Spotted Owlet and on this trip the pair of Brown Fish Owls.

Vultures circling over a hillside led to us to finding Indian Long-billed Vultures feeding on the remains of a tiger kill, that looked like it was one of the illegal cows that had infiltrated the park. Amongst them was a solitary Red-headed Vulture (above). This was our first sighting of this uncommon vulture and we were lucky to also have a pair fly over Ranthambhore Fort on our last morning in the park.

In general the park was quieter than on the first tour though we did pick up a couple of new sightings, these being White-naped Flameback soon after entering Track 4; White-bellied Minivet on the higher portions of Track 3; a pair of Black Storks near the end of Track 5; and a very confiding Sulphur-bellied Warbler (above) at the fort.